Javier Sánchez-Martín

Glad to share our latest article “Off-season sex in #Zymoseptoria tritici: little room for late encounters”, which continues our series of studies conducted in #ADEPTeam @inrae-bioger.bsky.social on the epidemiological determinants & impact of sexual reproduction in STB.
doi.org/10.1016/j.fg...

My new Emmy Noether Group is recruiting!

🔬 Two PhD positions in plant pathogen evolution

🧬 Start: April 2026 (flexible)

📍 Dept. of Phytopathology & Plant Protection @rstam.bsky.social @uni-kiel.de

⏰ Apply by 15 Dec 2025

🔗 More info: www.uni-kiel.de/personal/de/...

Do get in touch or share 😊

Thanks a lot Isa @isabelmonte.bsky.social👩‍🔬for accepting our invitation🤩. Such a terrific talk, opening up new research lines hand-in-hand with #Trichoderma. MPMI in its purest state!!! Special thanks to @agrienvironcyl.bsky.social for funding the visit, and many more yet to come. 🌿🧫🦠🧬

Dual recognition of structurally unrelated mildew effectors underlies the broad-spectrum resistance of Pm3e in wheat Broad-spectrum resistance genes are highly valuable for sustainable crop protection, yet the molecular basis of their activity is often unknown. The Pm3 allelic series in wheat encodes NLR receptors t...

A wheat NLR conferring broad-spectrum resistance against powdery mildew by recognizing two structurally diverse AVR effectors. Interested? Check out our newest preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our latest work from led by the one and only @zoebernasconi.bsky.social reporting on a decoy-based pathogen recognition by wheat tandem kinases. Check it out! 🌱 🦠 🔬🧬

Check out our new pre-print! ✨
We cloned AvrWTK4, the first wheat powdery mildew effector recognised by a tandem kinase protein, and show that an HMA-like integrated domain in WTK4 acts as pathogen decoy. Discover the whole story on bioRxiv ⬇️

Our latest article is now online!
@PlantBiotechnologyJournal

Expression of Arabidopsis FLS2 in N. benthamiana confers responsiveness to Ralstonia flg22 and activation of anti-bacterial immunity
doi.org/10.1111/pbi....

By Meng Li, Yujiao Chen, and Yali Wei

Muchas gracias Nacho!

Muy contento con el apoyo a nuestro proyecto en la convocatoria ITINERARIO PARA LA TRANSFERENCIA DE RESULTADOS, plan T-CUE @usal Trichoderma en acción!!! 😍 GIR Fitopatología y Control Biológico.
@vwidrig.bsky.social
tcue.usal.es/convocatoria...

Just back from #2025ISMPMI and #SEFIMEC2025, where we shared first results from the @cienciagob.bsky.social -funded TANGO project PID2022-142651OA-I00 . Great discussions, fresh insights and exciting new ideas! 🌱🔬🧪Kudos to David Encalada Bustamante...and none of it possible w/o @vwidrig.bsky.social

Thrilled to share our latest preprint! This work started during my PhD and was finished together with @jmadhuprakash.bsky.social. We found a Phytophthora infestans L-shaped effector that bridges a host TOL protein to activated NLRs to suppress immunity!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/15

Thanks Nacho!

Virulence on Pm4 kinase-based resistance is determined by two divergent wheat powdery mildew effectors The wheat resistance gene Pm4 encodes a kinase fusion protein and has gained particular attention as it confers race-specific resistance against two major wheat pathogens: powdery mildew and blast. He...

Check out our work on virulence on Pm4 controlled not by one, but two effectors! Avirulence vs. Suppression, a beautiful case of the arms race between wheat and mildew. Work led by @zoebernasconi.bsky.social , Aline Herger, Pilar Caro, and @lukas-kunz.bsky.social 😍🌱🦠!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Merci Anne!

k-mer-based GWAS in a wheat collection reveals novel and diverse sources of powdery mildew resistance - Genome Biology Wheat genetic resources hold the diversity required to mitigate agricultural challenges from climate change and reduced inputs. Using DArTseq, we genotype 461 wheat landraces and cultivars and evaluat...

VERY HAPPY to share our last publication...In a world full of SNPs...k-mers made the most biological sense out of the complex wheat genome! 🌱🧬
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Grateful to Benjaming Jaegle for the trust, & co-authors for their collaboration!

Genomic Surveillance and Molecular Evolution of Fungicide Resistance in European Populations of Wheat Powdery Mildew Mutations conferring fungicide resistance to wheat powdery mildew emerged multiple times and are characterised by distinct geographic ranges in Europe and neighbouring regions.

Our paper on the evolution of fungicide resistance in wheat powdery mildew is now published! Congrats to all coauthors! doi.org/10.1111/mpp....

From Lesions to Lessons: Two Decades of Filamentous Plant Pathogen Genomics | Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions® Filamentous plant pathogens pose a severe threat to food security. Current estimates suggest up to 23% yield losses to pre- and post-harvest diseases and these losses are projected to increase due to ...

From lesions to lessons:
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of filamentous plant pathogen genomics. In our new review, we present lessons we learned over the past 2 decades and discuss the future of plant pathogen genomics. Take a first look!

apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...

Following thermal adaptation, we investigated Zymoseptoria tritici's responses to extreme temperature stresses using transcriptomics and kmer-based GWAS.

🌡️🧬 Check out our findings in the preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Fungal phylogeny highlighting genome size changes

Summary of genome size variation among groups

@tbadet.bsky.social and I have a preprint out on transposon silencing in fungi!

Genome size evolution is fascinating and showcases the dynamic nature of transposon activation.

What we understand less are the dynamics of transposon defense systems encoded by the genomes.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

1/10 We are thrilled to share our preprint on spatial transcriptomics in wheat spikes led by the amazing @katielong.bsky.social and Ashleigh Lister. We resolved expression of 200 genes to cellular resolution. Pre-print👉 tinyurl.com/c7t3kncf., @johninnescentre.bsky.social @earlhaminst.bsky.social

Avirulence depletion assay: Combining R gene-mediated selection with bulk sequencing for rapid avirulence gene identification in wheat powdery mildew Author summary Breeding for disease resistant cultivars that withstand pathogen infection represents an important strategy for environmentally sustainable wheat production. The underlying disease resi...

Nice and elegant work by @lukas-kunz.bsky.social and @marioncmueller.bsky.social. Congrats!!!

journals.plos.org/plospathogen...

Zymoseptoria tritici show local differences in within-field diversity and effector variation Zymoseptoria tritici is a cosmopolitan hemibiotrophic wheat pathogen with a high mutation rate and a mixed reproduction system, leading to challenges in traditional farming management. For successful ...

New preprint! I always wondered: How much diversity do pathogens have within a single field? This important to assess the risk of resistance breakdown or spread of fungicide resistance . Together with colleagues from BASF we looked into this.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I'm working on discussion papers for my MPMI class. Any favorite recent breeding/biotech plant immunity papers? From your work or others? #plantimmunity #MPMI

A haplotype-based evolutionary history of barley domestication Barley is an old crop with a complex history. Its evolution and the molecular basis of domestication have been intensely studied. This research has ruled out a single origin of the crop and motivated ...

A haplotype-based evolutionary history of barley domestication
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Comparative Genomics Reveals Sources of Genetic Variability in the Asexual Fungal Plant Pathogen Colletotrichum lupini Comparative genomics of the lupin pathogen Colletotrichum lupini reveals low SNP diversity but highlights a dynamic accessory genome, including a variable accessory chromosome and diverse transposabl....

Comparative Genomics Reveals Sources of Genetic Variability in the Asexual Fungal Plant Pathogen Colletotrichum lupini
bsppjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

(Thanks Katharina for posting!)

Here is our first GWAS on M. polymorpha, to try deciphering the genetics of adaptation to pathogens in bryophytes.

Wait for the thread to come by 1st author @karimaelm.bsky.social !

This builds on the M. polymorpha diversity panel 🔽

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Putative neofunctionalization of a Poales-specific EXO70 clade EXO70s are uniquely expanded in land plants compared to all other eukaryotic lineages. The functional implications of this expansion and diversification on the conserved role of EXO70 as a subunit of ...

Thrilled to share our work on an unusual EXO70 clade unique to grasses and grass-like species 🌾! (1/8)
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@thesainsburylab.bsky.social

Are you interested in receptor kinase signalling and plant immunity?
We have several positions open to join our team at @thesainsburylab.bsky.social in Norwich.

#plantscience #mpmi #plantimmunity #sceincejobs

Please get in touch if you have questions

1/5

Wheat Initiative Newsletter JULY 2022 Wheat Initiative Logo

Wheat Initiative Newsletter - Dec 2024
mailchi.mp/julius-kuehn...

"Must read" #3: The potencial of agronomic potential of rare introgressions in wheat 🌾🦠🔬
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
work of Matthias Heuberger and Zoe Bernasconi 😀
#IntrogressionPapers

Long-read genomics reveal extensive nuclear-specific evolution and allele-specific expression in a dikaryotic fungus Phased telomere to telomere (T2T) genome assemblies are revolutionising our understanding of long hidden genome biology "dark matter" such as centromeres, rDNA repeats, inter-haplotype variation, and ...

Our last science contribution of the year Long-read genomics reveal extensive nuclear-specific evolution and allele-specific expression in a dikaryotic fungus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #mpmi #plantbiology #plantimmunity #plants #fungi.

This was led by very talented Rita Tam plus great support